Chapter 18 Full of losses, modest benefits

This is an old Chinese saying with an ancient origin. It has already been included in "Shangshu·Da Yumo".It can be seen that this statement expresses a truth. After nearly three thousand years of testing, it has become more and more true and reliable. These words apply to people who do all kinds of work, so why not study?But how to explain it? According to my own thinking and analysis, there is only one kind of complacency: true.Those who are falsely complacent have never had it.Bragging and big talk are not complacency, but deception.There are two kinds of modesty (modesty), one is true and the other is false.Examples of false modesty can be said to be everywhere.There are many people who pretend to be modest.Words such as "Philippine" and "Clumsy Work" in Chinese can come out as soon as you open your mouth.Everyone knows that modest remarks such as "correcting", "rectifying", "correcting" and so on to give away one's own works are false, but everyone must write in this way.This kind of humility has penetrated into the bone marrow and does not leave any impression on anyone.The Japanese who give gifts to others and claim to be "coarse products" also belong to this category.This false modesty benefits no one.Westerners can't understand it anyway.Why use "Philippine" instead of a feast to entertain guests?Why take "crude products" instead of high-quality goods to others?It is a mystery to Westerners.

What we want is true humility, especially in learning.If a scholar, whether young, middle-aged, or old, thinks that his knowledge is old enough and there is no need to study further, he will not make further progress.As a matter of fact, no matter which field of study you engage in, you will never be able to do it thoroughly without leaving any problems.Even if a person can live for 1000 years, it is impossible.Therefore, modesty in learning not only means that this person is moral, but also that this person is seeking truth from facts.I heard that Kang Youwei said that at the age of thirty, he had learned all the knowledge in the world.This alone proves that Kang Youwei doesn't know what learning is.Now some people respect him as "Master of Chinese Studies", I think it is ridiculous.He was at best an innovator.

In today's academic circles in China, there are people with high self-esteem everywhere; but there are only a few people who are truly modest.I don't think this is a good sign.There are many young scholars who have written a few papers and published a few monographs, but they are arrogant.This is not conducive to their progress, nor to the development of China's academic future. what about meI always feel like I can't do it.I often say that I know everything and am loose in everything.I have worked hard all my life, reading and writing articles every day, but when I encounter a problem that requires in-depth or more in-depth study, I feel that my knowledge is not enough, and sometimes I have to improvise.Everyone admits that self-knowledge is extremely difficult; sometimes, I feel that my "self-knowledge" is too much, not because I am humble, but because I have a guilty conscience.As a result, I never felt complacent.This is of course a good sign.However, I encountered a great contradiction: I feel that there are very few people who really do it.I always feel that many scholars are not diligent enough and waste their time every day.I am often in this kind of psychological contradiction.I am very grateful for the praise of others; however, I am not carried away by these praises, my mind is clear.I just advise everyone not to believe all the words of praise for me, especially those amazingly high hats, I am even more ashamed.

1997